Wo Kee v. United States

28 C.C.P.A. 272, 1941 CCPA LEXIS 6
CourtCourt of Customs and Patent Appeals
DecidedJanuary 6, 1941
DocketNo. 4309
StatusPublished

This text of 28 C.C.P.A. 272 (Wo Kee v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Customs and Patent Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wo Kee v. United States, 28 C.C.P.A. 272, 1941 CCPA LEXIS 6 (ccpa 1941).

Opinion

Lenroot, Judge,

delivered the opinion of the court:

This is an appeal from a judgment of the United States Customs Court (First Division) overruling two protests of appellants against the classification by the collector at the port of San Francisco, Calif., [274]*274of certain merchandise described on the invoices as "Oyster sauce” and described by the appraiser as “Oysters or oyster juice packed in air-tight containers.” The merchandise was assessed with duty under the provisions of paragraph 721 (e) of the Tariff Act of 1930 at 8 cents per pound. Appellants claimed the merchandise to be free of duty under the provisions of paragraph 1761 of the same act.

Other claims were made in the protests with respect to such merchandise, but none of them were pressed before the Customs Court and are not mentioned in appellants’ assignment of errors.

The involved paragraphs of the tariff act read as follows:

Par. 721. (e) Oysters, oyster juice, or either in combination with other substances, packed in air-tight containers, 8 cents per pound, including weight of immediate container.
Par. 1761. Shrimps, lobsters, and other shellfish, fresh or frozen (whether or not packed in ice), or prepared or preserved in any manner (including pastes and sauces), and not specially provided for.

Before the Customs Court the protests were consolidated for purposes of trial.

Identical merchandise was before us in the case of Shun Yuen Hing & Co. et al. v. United States, 23 C. C. P. A. (Customs) 316, T. D. 48178. In that case, as here, the merchandise was classified under the provision of paragraph 721 (e), and, as here, claimed to be free of duty under paragraph 1761. The record in that case was, in the Customs Court, incorporated in the instant case.

The additional record made in the instant case consists of the testimony of seven witnesses and certain exhibits.

In the case of Shun Yuen Hing & Co. et al. v. United States, supra, hereinafter referred to as the Shun Yuen Ring case, we affirmed the judgment of the Customs Court overruling the protest, and in our opinion stated:

It appears from the desposition of the witness Chin Koon Hor that merchandise like that here involved is prepared in the following manner by the use of approximately 133% pounds of oysters, 10% pounds of salt, and 6% gallons of water:
Oysters, salt, and water are used only. First the oysters are removed from the shell, then put in a pan. Salt and water are added. The mixture is steamed for three hours. The oysters are then removed. The water left in the pan is placed in earthenware jars where it is kept for two months. After two months the skim is removed and the remainder, which is the oyster sauce, is packed in bottles or cans. [Italics ours.]
Hi * * * * * *
According to the testimony in this case, oj'sters were included in the mixture during the steaming process, but were removed after the steaming process. Whether the steaming process dissolved a portion of the oysters, does not appear, and, so far as we can ascertain from the record, the involved merchandise is nothing more than oyster juice in combination with salt and water, steamed. Accordingly, the involved merchandise is not oysters, prepared or preserved in the form, of a sauce or otherwise, and, therefore, is dutiable under the provisions of paragraph 721 (e), as held by the collector and the trial court. See Alexander & [275]*275Baldwin, Ltd. v. United States, supra [21 C. C. P. A. (Customs) 558, T. D. 46988]; Nootka Packing Co. et al v. United States, supra [12 C. C. P. A. (Customs) 464, T. D. 47464].
In so holding, it should be understood that we are limiting our decision in this case to the record before us and the precise issues involved.

The additional testimony in tlie instant case with respect to the method of preparing the involved merchandise is substantially the same as the testimony in the incorporated case, quoted in our opinion in that case.

It is appellants’ chief contention that in the case at bar the additional testimony herein distinguishes this case from the Shun Yuen Hing case, and that our decision in that case should not control our decision here.

The testimony thus relied upon is that of one C. Gurchot, a biochemist and pharmacologist, who made a microscopic examination of a sample of the merchandise hero involved. This witness testified in part as follows:

Q. Mr. Gurchot, did you receive some bottles from the court, marked Exhibits 1 and 2? — A. I did.
Q. Will you please tell the court what you did with those exhibits. — A. I took those exhibits to my laboratory and I opened the bottles. Upon opening the bottles, they gave forth a very strong odor of shellfish. Since I was familiar with the method of manufacture of this exhibit, as included in the record, I set about to look for evidence characteristic of shellfish. I therefore submitted the different samples to an examination with the microscope, and in so doing I found that they all contained cellulose structures, some of which are characteristic of shellfish. The cellulose structures which I found are roughly indicated on the paper which I have here. I found, for instance, muscle bundles, which come from the body of the shellfish itself.
* * * Then I found some muscle bundles, to the extent of about 2 per cent of all the cells I could see, and then some epithelial layers, which came from a structure of shellfish which is called the mantle, about 1 per cent of the entire cell mass. Then some connective tissue cells, about 10 per cent of the entire cell mass, which cells are to be found pretty nearly all over the shellfish organism. Then I also found some epithelial tissue coming from the gills of the shellfish, also present in single layers and having a peculiar appearance of their own. These were also present in an amount of about 2 per cent. In addition to that, I found some blood vessels, very small tubes which could be identified as such, about 1 per cent of the entire cell mass; also a great deal of masses of epithelial tissue characteristic of glands, which are found in different organisms. There was about 50 per cent of those. In addition to that, there was an unspecified amount of cellular debris of all sorts.

He further testified that his examination disclosed that the cellulose structure found by him came from shellfish, but ho was unable to determine any particular variety of shellfish in which they originated.

The witness further testified that he also made a microscopic examination of oyster juice. Upon this point he testified as follows:

[276]*276Q. Did you endeavor to ascertain whether the present merchandise was prepared from oyster juice? — A. I did.
Q. Will you please explain how you went about that analysis. — A. I secured a sample of fresh oysters, which was delivered to me in a glass jar.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Roessler & Hasslacher Chemical Co. v. United States
13 Ct. Cust. 451 (Customs and Patent Appeals, 1926)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
28 C.C.P.A. 272, 1941 CCPA LEXIS 6, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wo-kee-v-united-states-ccpa-1941.